The following week, Garcia texted Jessica. "Did you hear that Seaver graduated and is becoming a full member of the BAU?"

"No, I haven't heard anything in years. I think my ears might be broken."

"You know what I mean! Did anyone TELL you about it?"

"No, why?" Moments later, Jessica texted again. "Are you worried I'll upstage you with a better cake?"

Garcia scoffed when she read this. "As if you could upstage me. No, I just want to make sure we don't end up giving Doctor Genius a sugar rush tomorrow."

"Have you seen how much sugar he puts in his coffee? I'm amazed he doesn't bounce off the walls more often."

"It is a riddle for the ages," Garcia agreed. "But anyway, I claim baking rights for celebrating Seaver's graduation."

"Can I at least join you? I feel like baking something."

"Come on over."

The morning after the team returned from Portland, Jessica almost ran into Spencer as he was coming out of the bathroom. He froze at the sight of her, then hurried into his room and shut the door. Jessica stood there baffled for a moment, then pounded on his door. He didn't seem inclined to answer, so she opened the door and walked in.

"Please leave me alone," Spencer signed.

"Not until you explain what just happened," Jessica replied.

"I want to be alone, that's all."

"You don't usually freak out and run away just because you want to be alone."

Spencer started to sign something else, then broke off and sighed. "The unsub from our latest case…he was a paranoid schizophrenic. And he just…he couldn't control himself. He wanted to stop killing. I could tell he really, truly wanted it with all his heart. He just couldn't."

"You've got about half a year until you turn thirty, and you haven't had a schizophrenic break yet," Jessica reminded him.

Spencer snorted bitterly. "Who needs a schizophrenic break when there are drugs? I hit you. I didn't want to, but I did."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "You say that like you punched me in the face or something. That's not what happened and we both know it. You just did something stupid in the heat of the moment and I had the misfortune to be in the way. Also, it only hurt for like ten minutes."

"That was ten minutes too long."

Jessica sighed. "You're not like that unsub, Spencer. I know you keep a gun in that drawer. I don't see you pointing it at me or anyone else." She took a few steps forward and sat on the bed next to him. "Now I'm two feet away from you and you haven't moved a muscle. Is that because you're fighting the urge to hurt me, or because there's no urge to fight?"

Spencer swallowed and took a deep breath. Cautiously, he reached out to wrap his arms around Jessica. When that didn't shatter her into a million pieces, he hugged her tightly, clinging for dear life. Jessica returned the hug, completely unafraid of him.

A few days later, Hotch held meetings with each team member to see how they were coping with losing Prentiss. He offered to meet with Jessica as well, and Reid encouraged her to accept. And so it was that Jessica found herself sitting in Hotch's office after school.

"How are you?" Hotch asked.

"I…I don't know," Jessica signed uncertainly.

"I know this isn't the first time you've dealt with loss," Hotch continued.

"It's different this time, though," Jessica replied. "My life hasn't been turned completely upside-down. Mostly I've been worried about Spencer."

Hotch shook his head. "We're not here to talk about Spencer. We're here to talk about you. What do you feel when you think of Emily?"

Jessica also shook her head. "But it all ties in. I've been so caught up in trying to make sure Spencer doesn't drown in his own problems that I've hardly spent any time actually thinking about Emily. And then when I do think of her, I feel guilty for that…but then I tell myself, there's nothing I can do for her. There's nothing I can do that will bring her back. But she would want someone to help Spencer, so really, isn't looking after him the best thing I can do for her?"

Hotch shook his head again. "I agree, she would want you to be there for Spencer, but she wouldn't want you to neglect yourself in the process. I think you should take some time to really think about what she meant to you. Not to Spencer or this family as a whole, but you personally."

Jessica swallowed. "Okay. I'll do that."

That night, Jessica sat staring at her laptop, trying to think of something Emily-related to do. She'd pulled up the online Scrabble site, because she'd been playing it the last time she saw Emily, but Jeffrey wasn't online right now and therefore she couldn't play with him. Jessica had just made up her mind to close the computer and play with Bianca instead when she received a game invitation from some player called 'thevampirechick'. Jessica's first instinct was to decline, since she was savvy enough to beware of strangers online, but she couldn't help but think of that old photo of Emily in high school. If Emily ever joined the site, Jessica could totally imagine that she would use that username. And so, on impulse, Jessica decided to accept the invitation. She could even imagine that Emily was still out there somewhere, risen as the undead just to play Scrabble with her…

Far away, on the other side of the world, Emily smiled as 'queenofthewild' accepted the invitation.

Morgan, Garcia and Seaver were discussing the horror movie they had just watched when Garcia suddenly froze, staring across the crowded lobby. Morgan followed her gaze. "Something wrong, baby girl?"

"I think I just saw Reid coming out of that theater," Garcia replied. "With a girl."

"What exactly did he say he was busy with tonight?" Seaver asked.

"He didn't say, he just said he had 'plans'," Garcia answered.

"Hmm. 'Plans'," Morgan repeated. "Sounds like Pretty Boy has got a girlfriend," he continued in a sing-song voice.

"How come Jessica didn't tell me about this?" Garcia exclaimed indignantly. "We're supposed to tell each other juicy gossip like this!"

"Maybe Reid asked her not to," Morgan suggested. "You know he can be a pretty private person sometimes."

"Well, if anyone can confirm what we just saw, she can," Garcia decided. She took out her phone and started typing a message, demanding to know if Reid had a girlfriend.

Morgan looked over her shoulder as she typed. "Hey, if she is keeping it secret for Reid's sake, asking straight-out is just gonna make her clam up. I've got a better idea." He took out his own phone and typed a message, reading it out loud as he typed. "'Do you know what Reid is doing tonight?' There, sent."

The three agents continued on their way out of the theater and were strolling through a wide alley when Jessica responded. Morgan read the message to the two women. "'Spencer's nighttime outings are like fight club. We don't talk about Spencer's nighttime outings.'"

"That sounds like a yes," Seaver commented.

"Ask her if anyone else is involved in these nighttime outings," Garcia suggested. Morgan did so.

This time, the response came much more quickly. "'I believe that's the point', she says." Morgan started typing another message. "I'm gonna ask her if she has any idea who this 'anyone else' might be."

Jessica was slightly slower to respond to that. "'No, I don't, it's called'—oh," Morgan broke off, glancing at Seaver. "Uh, never mind. I don't think he was on a date tonight."

"It's called what?" Seaver asked curiously.

"Pretty sure Jessica didn't mean for me to share that with the whole class," Morgan said evasively. He stuck his phone back in his pocket. "Anyway, you're telling me that girl seriously didn't know the unsub was waiting for her upstairs?"

Jessica heaved a sigh of relief when Morgan didn't press the matter further. Telling him 'it's called Anonymous for a reason' had been enough to deflect him. She knew perfectly well that Spencer had taken Maeve to a movie that night, and that Spencer wanted her to let him tell the team about Maeve in his own time.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Jessica asked Will. "You haven't messaged in two weeks."

It took a while for Will to reply. "JJ's mission is over and she's been taking some time off, so we haven't needed a babysitter. Sorry to have worried you."

Jessica gasped at this and sent her next message to JJ instead. "How come you've been home for two weeks and never told me?!"

JJ took even longer than Will to respond. "The mission ended very badly and I haven't really felt up to seeing anyone. Sorry."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Jessica hesitated, then sent a second message. "Did your team lose someone too?"

"Yes, I lost someone."

"I'm sorry for your loss. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, thank you."

That weekend, JJ agreed to bring Henry to the park for a godparent (and Jessica) outing. Garcia was very happy about this. "Jayje! I haven't seen you in forever! What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know…work," JJ said uncomfortably.

"Auntie Penny swing now?" Henry asked.

"Sure, sweetie," Garcia said, picking Henry up and putting him in the swing. She continued talking to JJ as she pushed Henry. "You know, you've never told me what you actually do for the State Department."

"A lot of it's classified," JJ said evasively.

"There must be some stuff you can tell us though, right?" Reid prodded.

JJ sighed. "I was a communications liaison in a more international setting."

"Was?" Reid repeated.

"My project ended."

"Ooh, a roaring success no doubt," Garcia said happily. "Congrats!" JJ flinched.

"It must be nice to have more time with Henry," Jessica cut in, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Mommy spends lots of time with me," Henry said proudly, signing as he spoke and nearly falling out of the swing.

"No no no baby, hold the swing, don't sign," JJ said hurriedly, grabbing the swing to arrest its momentum.

"But I'm s'posed to sign when Jessie's around," Henry said, confused.

"Not when you're swinging, okay?" Jessica told him. "I would rather not understand you than have you fall and hurt yourself."

Henry thought about it. "I don't wanna swing if I can't talk to Jessie."

Jessica smiled. "That's very sweet of you." She picked him up out of the swing and set him on the ground, lingering to give him a good long hug.

Henry looked over at a field where some slightly older kids were playing soccer. "Can we go see soccer?"

"Yeah, let's go see soccer!" Garcia said enthusiastically. She took Henry's hand and led him over to the soccer field. JJ, Reid and Jessica followed.

Halfway there, Henry suddenly let go of Garcia's hand and charged over to one of the adults by the field. "Uncle Dave! Hi Uncle Dave!"

"Whoa, hi there kiddo!" Rossi said, picking up Henry and spinning him around. "Long time, no see."

"Why you not playing soccer Uncle Dave?"

"Because this is a no-grown-ups-allowed game," Rossi said patiently. "I'm just here to tell Jack's team how to win."

"I play too?"

"I think these kids might be a little too big for you right now. But I tell you what, kiddo: you spend time practicing your soccer, and in a few years you can play too."

"Yay!" Henry turned back to JJ. "Mommy, can we get soccer ball?"

"Sure, baby," JJ replied, ruffling his hair.

Rossi nodded at JJ. "Nice to see you too. We've missed you."

"I've missed you all too," JJ admitted.

"Well, her project just ended, so hopefully we can be seeing more of her…right?" Garcia said, with a stern look at JJ.

JJ watched Hotch shout encouragement to Jack. "Hopefully. I've been doing a lot of thinking about where to go from here."

"Just remember that you'll always have a place in the BAU family, whether you officially work with us or not," Rossi stated.

"Thanks."

When the team was on their way back from Florida, Jessica received a message from Morgan. "Just to double check, Reid or someone has given you a talk about what red flags to watch out for in relationships, right?"

Jessica stared, suddenly realizing that Spencer and Penelope were still the only team members she was out to. It wasn't that she was actively hiding it from the rest; it had simply never come up. "Not really? We've had a talk about how I don't want to date in the first place, so I guess Spencer considered it a moot point."

"You'll change your mind some day. I just want to make sure you'll be safe when you do."

Jessica sighed in irritation. "No, I won't. I'm asexual and aromantic; I'm not attracted to anyone and I'm not interested in romance. I'm old enough to be quite certain it's not a phase."

It took a little while for Morgan to respond to that. "Okay, I didn't know that. But even if you reject all advances, you should still know how to tell the difference between the guys who will accept your rejection and move on with their lives, and the guys who will become obsessed with punishing you for it."

"If I ever notice a guy expressing unwanted interest in me, I'll let you know." Jessica paused, then typed a second message. "So long as you promise not to hurt him unless you've ascertained that he really is a douchebag."

"Fine."

That night, Jessica decided to ask Spencer about the curious conversation. "So, how come Derek was the one who felt the need to suddenly warn me about unsubs who can't handle rejection?"

"Unsubs who can't handle rejection?" Spencer repeated, confused.

"Wasn't that the case you just worked on? An unsub who retaliated against women who refused him?"

Spencer looked even more baffled. "No, he abducted people of either gender whom he perceived as abandoning their responsibilities. We believe it stemmed from his father abandoning him after his mother died. Romance had nothing to do with it."

Now Jessica was confused too. "…then why would Derek suddenly feel the need to give me a PSA about guys who can't handle rejection?"

Spencer took a few moments to think about it. "We did suspect that one of the victims might have been Morgan's missing cousin. His aunt even flew out to provide a DNA sample. Ultimately, it turned out not to be his cousin, so they still don't know what happened to her. Maybe she rejected a guy right before she went missing; I didn't really talk to him about it."

"Maybe." Jessica paused, not sure what else to say. "I hope he finds answers some day."

Spencer shuddered. "I hope I never find myself in the same position." He gave Jessica a hug, which she returned.

That year, Jessica's class finally got to go on an end-of-year trip to Boston. Sadly, the students were given so little time to themselves that Jessica didn't get to show her friends many places from her childhood, but she did get permission to make a quick trip to her parents' grave one morning. And even though she hadn't been involved in making the itinerary, she still got to be the 'local expert' of the class. Overall, it had been an enjoyable trip.

When Jessica got home that weekend, she cheerfully greeted Spencer with a hug. "Anything good happen while I was gone?" she asked after letting go.

"Yes, actually," Spencer signed with a smile. "JJ's taking the classes to become a profiler. Hotch has promised her a spot in the BAU as soon as she passes."

Jessica stared. "I thought the State Department forcibly hired her and didn't care whether she or any of you liked it."

"The project they needed her for has ended, so she's free to return to the Bureau."

Jessica wasn't sure how to feel about this. She'd been genuinely happy that JJ left the Bureau, but by now she'd gotten the impression that JJ's work at the State Department had been even more dangerous. Jessica supposed that if JJ was going to put her life on the line, she might as well do it with people Jessica knew and trusted to look out for her. "Good for her," Jessica finally signed.

"Also, Seaver wants to switch to the Domestic Trafficking Unit, but she said she'll wait until JJ is ready to replace her."

"…good for her too, I guess?" Jessica replied. "I feel like I've barely gotten to know her."

"Me too," Spencer admitted. "I've got nothing against her, but I don't know her nearly as well as JJ, so I'm looking forward to the day JJ takes over."

Jessica sighed. "If only Emily could come back too."

Spencer swallowed, suddenly downcast. "If only."

Before long, the first weekend of June rolled around, meaning it was time for Jessica's high school graduation. Much to everyone's relief, there were no cases, and the entire BAU was able to attend. The Bartons and even Elle were able to attend too, though Jeffrey had to interpret for his father. They all smiled proudly as Jessica crossed the stage and was handed her diploma, "with honors".

After the ceremony, Jessica was mobbed by camera-wielding FBI agents. She was perfectly happy to indulge them all, in addition to taking several group photos with her friends. Beth and Claire were both quite happy to meet Jeffrey—particularly Claire.

"So, Jessica tells me you once singlehandedly saved your entire school from a crazy gunman," Claire signed, fluttering her eyelashes.

"…no, more like I put my entire school in danger because I didn't think things through and went out in public when I knew a crazy gunman was targeting me."

"Yes, but you saved somebody, didn't you?" Claire pressed.

Jeffrey shook his head. "Hard to say for sure what would have happened if I stayed home."

"Then you can't say for sure that you didn't save anybody," Claire argued.

Jessica finally spotted what was going on and came to Jeffrey's rescue. "Is that any way to counsel someone who survived a serial-killer-related trauma?" she scolded Claire.

"Sorry," Claire signed, finally looking abashed. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." She paused. "But if you ever do want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

Jeffrey stared confusedly at her. "Aren't you deaf too?"

"Doesn't mean I can't use figures of speech," Claire responded with a shrug.

"Maybe your efforts would be better spent figuring out when you're making a guy uncomfortable," Beth retorted. She looked back at Jeffrey. "I'm very sorry about her and it's very nice to meet you."

"Thank you?" Jeffrey signed uncertainly. He turned and almost walked into a man with graying hair. "Sorry, sir."

"That's quite all right," the man replied. He looked at Jessica, who was still talking to her friends, then turned back to Jeffrey. "I see Jessica's found herself a boy."

"You know Jessica?" Jeffrey signed, confused. He didn't recall this man sitting with the BAU.

"It's been several years, but yes," the man confirmed.

At that moment, Garcia looked over in their direction and did a double take. "Gideon?!" she exclaimed loudly, causing the rest of the BAU to turn as well.

"Jason?" Hotch said incredulously. The rest of the team simply stood there with various expressions of shock and surprise.

Gideon inclined his head. "Hello again, all of you. It's good to see you."

"Good to see you too," Morgan replied, slightly dazedly.

Jessica finally noticed the commotion and looked their way. Her eyes widened, and the next moment she was crushing Gideon in a hug. At long last, she pulled away. "I knew you'd come back some day."

"And here I am," Gideon agreed. He glanced at Jeffrey again. "Are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?"

Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes. "His name is J-E-F-F-R-E-Y, his name sign is Jeffrey, and he's not my boyfriend. So no threatening him."

"Pleased to meet you, Agent Gideon," Jeffrey said, holding out a hand. "Jessica talks about you a lot."

"A pleasure to meet you too," Gideon replied, clearly surprised to realize that Jeffrey could hear. He shook Jeffrey's hand, then took another look around the crowd, then finally looked back at Jessica. "So, is there a boy I need to threaten? I find it hard to believe that a young woman as beautiful as you hasn't found one by now."

Jessica glanced around at the team, then took a deep breath and lifted her chin. "I haven't looked. I'm asexual and aromantic; I have absolutely no interest in either gender beyond platonic friendship."

There were a few tense moments as everyone digested that revelation, then Rossi suddenly burst out laughing. "And here I thought you were simply keeping your dates secret so that we wouldn't scare them off."

Jessica blinked in surprise at this reaction, then managed a small smile. "Well, if I had been dating, I might have tried it. I'm not sure how well I'd be able to hide something like that from you guys, though. You're kind of the experts at reading people."

"Experts we may be, but it never occurred to me that you might not be straight until you told me," Morgan remarked.

"I did wonder, but I wasn't sure," Hotch added.

Elle shrugged. "I didn't know there was a word for it until she told me, but I thought it was pretty obvious she wasn't interested in sex or dating."

"It seems I have missed out on more than I realized," Gideon signed, looking slightly chagrinned. He turned to Reid. "And I suppose you also have some shocking revelation about your love life?"

Reid froze, not quite sure what to say to that. His reaction did not escape the rest of the team's notice. "I think that's a yes," Morgan concluded. "I've been suspecting a secret girlfriend for a while."

"Ooh, I hadn't known about this," JJ said happily. "C'mon, Spence, spill!"

"…her name is Dr. Maeve Donovan and we've been seeing each other since January," Reid finally said. "I was planning to tell you guys eventually."

"Since January?!" Garcia gasped. "How did I not know about this?!"

"Spencer is perfectly capable of taking care of himself without you running extensive background checks on Maeve," Jessica defended.

"And you've already given her a name sign?!" Garcia continued. "How long have you known about this?"

"Since they met," Jessica signed with a shrug. "But it wasn't my place to tell you, so I didn't."

"Dating since January," JJ said thoughtfully. She looked back at Reid. "It sounds like this might get serious. At least you won't be alone when Jessica goes off to college."

Jessica shook her head. "I'm planning on going to Mendel University, which is close enough for me to live at home anyway." She paused, then smiled. "It's also where Maeve works and where she and Spencer met. But don't worry, she's not going to be personally teaching me."

"Well then, congratulations," Gideon stated. "It seems that both you and Spencer are entering exciting new chapters of your lives."

Jessica frowned at him. "And we'd love for you to play a bigger role in these new chapters than just sending birthday cards and Christmas cards. Right, Spencer?"

Reid nodded. "It's been a while since I've had a chess partner who challenged me."

Gideon nodded. "I think I can manage a few games of chess."

Jessica gave him another brief hug. "Welcome back."

"It really is good to see you again," Reid agreed, smiling. A part of him had always dreaded Jessica's graduation, but now he could see that there had been nothing to fear. There would always be changes in life, but sometimes, change really was for the better. Jessica's grade school days might have come to an end, but like Gideon had said, this was simply the beginning of a new chapter. And Reid was determined to make it a good one.

A/N: The end...for now, at least. I've gotten rather burned out with this universe, and I have other life things going on. I might continue this universe some day, but no promises. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it!